2012 LONDON OLYMPICS; Canoeing Case in Court

By MARY PILON

Published: July 21, 2012

A fight surrounding women's participation in canoeing has moved to the British court system.

Competitive canoeist Samantha Rippington filed a challenge Thursday against the London Organizing Committee claiming that the lack of women's canoeing events at the Olympics constitutes discrimination against women.

Although a women's kayak event will make its Olympic debut at the 2012 Games, along with women's boxing, canoeing events are still male-only. Rippington has represented Great Britain at the world championship level as a female canoeist.

''All I am asking is that LOCOG answer two simple questions,'' Rippington said in a statement. ''Is it discriminatory for there to be five men's Olympic canoe events but none for women, and should that situation continue? As a female canoeist who could potentially compete at the Olympics, I know what my answers are, but why won't the people who are responsible for staging these Olympics give us their answers, too?''

The case, filed in High Court, claims that the LOCOG violates the Equality Act of 2010, which requires public authorities to eliminate discrimination on characteristics such as race, religion or gender. So far, women have made great strides in the London Games with the news that for the first time, the United States Olympic Committee will send more women than men and that Saudi Arabia will send female athletes to London.

''Under the Host City Contract and Olympic Charter the competition schedule is a matter for the International Olympic Committee and the relevant Federation to determine,'' a spokeswoman for the LOCOG said in a statement Thursday. ''The competition schedule for canoeing was determined several years ago. LOCOG did not then, and does not now, have any power to change the competition schedule.''

Rajeev Thacker, a London-based soliciter who is working on the case for Rippington, said that he hoped the legal action would lead to an examination among organizers of the overall Olympic program in the city.

''If they want to spend all this money and take over London for two weeks,'' Thacker said, ''then there's a public interest in making sure gender equality is looked at properly.''

An I.O.C. spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.